All Quiet On The Western Front Tiger Woods didn't make any noise at last week's Tour stop, but he was still the center of attention

Tiger Woods's latest date with destiny arrives next week, whenthe 129th British Open is played at St. Andrews, Scotland. Hegoes to that tournament as the most overwhelming favorite thegame has ever known. Woods has more working for him than themomentum of his rampage at the U.S. Open, a 15-stroke victorythat left indelible imprints on his competitors' psyches as wellas on the record books. Woods will enjoy a tremendous advantageon the Old Course, an expansive canvas that so rewards lengththat John Daly overpowered the links the last time the OpenChampionship came to town, in 1995. Emerging from two weeks offfollowing the U.S. Open, Woods finished a lackluster 23rd lastweek at the Advil Western Open at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club,in the Chicago area, but no matter. Because this was the lastStateside run-up before the British Open, Woods and his chancesat the Old Course dominated conversation throughout thetournament.

So, will he or won't he? "No one is invincible, but on thatcourse Tiger is pretty close," says Jim Furyk, who tied for thirdat the Western, two shots out of a playoff between Robert Allenbyand Nick Price, which Allenby won with a par on the first hole.

"Daly won with his length," says Lee Janzen, 15th in Chicago. "Hetook all the trouble out of play. Tiger has the same length, buthe also has Nicklaus's mind and Seve's short game. So what do youthink?"

"The game's not as easy as Tiger is making it look right now,"says Price, the '94 British Open champ and a voice in thewilderness because he is not ready to concede the tournamentbefore it has begun. "We all know he's the best player in theworld, but the bottom line is this: He can't win every time hetees it up."

As is always the case with Woods, looking to Jack Nicklaus'scareer provides some useful context. Nicklaus's dominance beganwith his victory at the '62 U.S. Open and effectively ended withhis triumph at the '80 PGA. This remarkable run comprised 75majors, of which Nicklaus won 17, for a .227 batting average.From his epochal victory at the '97 Masters to last month's U.S.Open, Woods played in 14 majors, winning three--a .214 average.(Good thing these guys aren't baseball players.) Even the mostdominant golfers in history lose more than three out of everyfour majors, and winning back-to-back majors in the same year issuch a daunting task that Nicklaus did it only once (the '72Masters and U.S. Open).

Then again, Woods has constructed a legend out of defying theodds, and more than the usual amount of mojo is at work here.This British Open is imbued with significance that far exceedsthe round numbers of the millennium. The setting is the home ofgolf, St. Andrews, and with a victory Woods will become only thefifth, and the youngest, player to have won a career Grand Slam."He's loving it," says Woods's buddy and Isleworth, Fla.,neighbor, Stuart Appleby. "He's pumped about getting the careerSlam, and he's pumped about doing it at St. Andrews."

There are really three British Opens: the ones in England, whichare nice; the ones in Scotland, which are better; and the ones inSt. Andrews, which are best of all. Nicklaus knew it, and Woodsdoes too. "St. Andrews is what the game really means," Nicklaussaid following his win there in '70. "I wanted to be part of St.Andrews. I wanted to win on the Old Course."

Says Woods, "To have an opportunity to complete the career GrandSlam at the course where it all started is very symbolic." Woodshas treated the game's two other great cathedrals--AugustaNational and Pebble Beach--with all the delicacy of Godzillasightseeing in Manhattan. The key to both victories wasoutstanding putting. It was shoddy work with the flat stick atthe Western that sent Woods skidding toward his worst showing ofthe year. (Remarkably, the Western and his 18th-place finish inthe Nissan Open are the only times in 12 tournaments that Woodshas been out of the top five this year.)

Woods's ball striking was solid during the first round of theWestern (he hit 16 greens), but 33 ghastly jabs with the putterdoomed him to a two-under 70. He followed with 31 more putts onFriday (shooting 69) and, after 28 putts during a third-round 70,was moved to say, "I'm putting like I need a Seeing Eye dog. It'sso bad it's a joke. Some weeks even the bad putts go in. Thisweek the good putts are lipping out, and the bad ones aren't evenclose."

Is Woods concerned that there will be a carryover into theBritish? "No, not at all," he says. "I was putting pretty badgoing into the U.S. Open, and that turned out all right."

Woods has earned the right to be flip, but the fact remains thathis streaky putting could be his downfall next week. According toPrice, "Putting is the hardest part of St. Andrews. It's veryeasy to hit all 18 greens there and still shoot 75." The grainy,sunbaked, windswept greens on the Old Course cover a total of sixacres, and they are so outsized that while playing the 5th holeduring the 1970 Open, Lee Trevino, fighting for the lead,mistakenly aimed at the wrong flag on the double green.

Compounding the difficulty is that many of the greens areelevated, making them susceptible to gusts of wind. During thefinal round of that '70 Open the wind blew in excess of 50 mph."Preparing to play your putt," Nicklaus wrote in a first-personpiece in SI, "you did not study the contours of the green;instead, you checked the wind." Even so, Nicklaus--arguably thebest clutch putter ever--had five three-putts during that round,including one on the 72nd hole.

Nicklaus's subsequent victory is noteworthy because itillustrates the learning curve all players must go through on theidiosyncratic Old Course. At his first British Open there, in1964, Nicklaus arrived at the height of his powers yet finishedfive strokes behind the winner, Tony Lema. Nicklaus stubbornlytried to play a fade off every tee, even into a left-to-rightwind. In '70 Nicklaus shaped his shots both ways and hit 69 of 72greens in regulation.

"The first tournament you play over there is basically asacrifice," says Janzen, as Woods would also find out as along-and-wrong amateur at the '95 British Open. He startedrespectably, 74-71-72, then shot 78 in a gale to finish 68th.Woods calls that first taste "an awesome experience." He returnedto St. Andrews in October 1998 for the Dunhill Cup, just as hisswing changes were beginning to coalesce. He opened 66-70-66,then went three under through the first 10 holes of his finalround. Had it been a regular medal-play tournament, he would havebeen 20 under, six ahead of the field. Woods bogeyed the 11th and12th holes, then missed a six-footer for par on the Road Hole tofall a stroke behind Spain's Santiago Luna, his opponent that dayin the medal-match format. On the 72nd hole Woods drove into theValley of Sin in front of the green, but blew a four-footer forbirdie, losing the match and bouncing the U.S. from thecompetition.

Woods obviously is a different player now, but that Dunhill showsnot only how low he could go at the Old Course, but also howquickly fortunes can change on that unpredictable track. "A lotof your success at the British Open comes down to a roll of thedice," says Bill Glasson, who was leading the '95 Open until hehit the St. Andrews Hotel with his tee ball on the Road Hole inthe second round. "The first two days you've got a 10-hour blockof tee times and the weather can change dramatically, so you canreally get screwed. With Tiger a lot will depend on the weather.If it's dry leading up to the tournament and throughout thatweek, then the course plays hard and fast, just the way Pebbledid, and he wins by 10. If it's wet and soft, that brings a lotof guys into the picture, because it doesn't take as much skillto score in those conditions." Pause, followed by a chuckle."Then he only wins by two or three."

Price points to the benign conditions at the Open at the OldCourse in '90, when the flagsticks were limp for all four days.Nick Faldo, a short hitter, rode pinpoint accuracy and a flawlessgame plan to a winning score of 18-under 270, up to that pointthe second lowest in the tournament's august history. If Faldo'sbland robotics are the polar opposite of Woods's artisticimprovisation, perhaps there is something to be learned there,too. "You hear a lot of talk about the Old Course being afreewheeler's course, but it also demands incredible discipline,"says Price. "There are many times when you have a sand wedge inyour hand and you absolutely have to aim away from the flag."

Woods's aggressiveness, a balky putting stroke, unpredictableconditions--any or all could sabotage his bid for history. Yet hehardly seems stressed by the possibilities. On Sunday evening heboarded a plane with Allenby, Appleby, Janzen, David Duval, RoccoMediate and Mark O'Meara for Ireland and his annual pre-Opensojourn. Ballybunion, Royal County Down and Waterville are on theitinerary, but, says Woods, "We try not to let the golf get inthe way of our fishing."

The trip, while relaxing, also serves as a reintroduction tolinks golf, which Woods loves. "Every minute of it," he says."Just to be able to play so many different kinds of shots..."His words trail off dreamily.

One of the most memorable shots of Woods's links career came atthe Old Course, during the final round of the '95 British. On the6th hole he found himself 40 yards shy of the front of the green,playing into the teeth of the wind. After examining his manyoptions, Woods whipped out his putter and rolled his ball towithin 10 feet of the cup, setting up a most unusual up-and-down."I've told that story so many times," Woods said last week,though he showed plenty of enthusiasm in another retelling. Itseems with Woods some things never get old.

Winning, for instance. So, will he or won't he? Our guess is thathe will.

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN BIEVER GRAND PLAN? Woods came in 23rd in his final tune-up for St. Andrews, his worst finish of the year.COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN BIEVER Allenby grimly hung on down the stretch, then beat Price in a one-hole playoff.

"I'm putting like I need a Seeing Eye dog," Woods says. Is heconcerned there will be a carryover next week? "No, not at all."